By Beatrice oppon
The Accra High Court has adjourned a case in which a family has sued the 37 Military Hospital, a doctor, the Chief of Defence Staff, and the Attorney-General for medical negligence to March 1, 2023.
Emmanuel Asare-Kumah filed the suit on behalf of the family after his brother Solomon Asare-Kumah, died at the Hospital.
He is blaming the health facility for medical negligence which led to the death of his brother in October 2019 and demanding more than two million cedis in damages. The Court was expected to rule on an application from the family seeking the Chief of Defence Staff and the Hospital to release the report of their investigation into the matter pending the determination of the substantive case.
The family contends that the death was due to a breach of contract and negligence by the hospital and the Doctor who took care of him, Colonel Dr. Gao Appiah.
Per the writ filed in 2021, the family argues that the hospital and its employees failed to exercise due care when they wrongly inserted the deceased’s breathing tube under his skin, thereby denying him oxygen for a considerable amount of time and causing stain on his heart and other organs leading to his death.
The family argues further that the Hospital and its employees failed to provide the appropriate standard of care when they failed to notice within reasonable time that the tube had been wrongly inserted until he became extremely bloated. The plaintiff also claims that the Hospital, particularly the Doctor, failed to exercise due care by failing to ensure that the drill required for surgery on the deceased was in good working condition before cutting open his skull thereby exposing his body and organs to considerable strain and clotting in the vein.
The family contends that the situation required an expensive procedure which cost them the cedi equivalent of five thousand five hundred dollars plus other expenses to treat. The family is also making other demands for damages.
